Falling Out Of Place
by Jade Opal
Summary: An assassin from NY meets with an assassin queen in California...with some 'surprises' along the way. Please Review. TristanOC, LancelotOC, ArthurGuinevere, GawainOC. IN HIATUS for the current time being.
1. Amy's POV I

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own King Arthur or his brave knights. Black Phoenix and the concept of the Red Sun Guild (c) June Birdie. I only own Amy and LeMarc Bradley and the concept of the Blackbird Society.

**Amy's POV**

Life…what's the point of living out a pathetic life when the ones that you could count on are no longer around? When they die, where do some kids go? In an orphanage, where they could get adopted and develop new 'happy' lives? In the streets, forever to become a poor degenerate, going from hand to mouth, begging for food and money and forced to live in the "real world", where the weather could be unpredictable? Hanging with the wrong crowd of people, where they do drugs, drink, and do things that most kids would not do most of their time in New York City, like stealing, or killing, or joining a gang that will forever be on your side…that is, if you were to obey the rules? Or…taken in by some weirdo that turns out to be this leader for a huge organized underground guild, where you could steal, kill, or hack into any electronic device for a living? For me…well, let's just say that the last option was placed into my lap without my consent.

The guy that took me in was family, my mom's younger brother, LeMarc Bradley. LeMarc was the leader of this guild called the 'Blackbird Society'. Now, I know that there are about a dozen of these so-called 'underground guilds' in which assassins, hackers and thieves can all come together to gather the latest in terms of assignments and whatnot...but none of these guilds could be compared to BbS in terms of how the members were treated. The BbS, as I call my uncle's guild, had about 5,000 members in the guild alone; at least 100 of those members are what I call 'exclusive' members, where they were close to being well known to the underlings in the guild. The underlings worship these 'exclusive' members as if they were the very gods of Olympus…personally, I think that it's just stupid…but, I can't say much, since I was one of those 'exclusive' members for a short while. Above the 100 'exclusive' members is about a good handful of seven members that are at the very top of the list in the guild. These seven members were extremely good at their respectful expertise: stealth, swiftness, accuracy, and knowledge of the world, the talent of disguise, seduction, and patience. The reason as to how I happen to know all of this is that I am one of the seven lucky bastards.

Let me explain how I got myself in this position: I've been fairly good in terms of knowing the PC and shoplifted almost eight times a month, my uncle had me under as a Level 2 exclusive member, which is about the same to five years on the field as a BbS member. Not too shabby for a twelve year old orphan. It took me about a year and a half to get me into the position that I am in now…and this was the position that would take over leadership of the guild should anything happen to the current leader. My name…well, I guess some people forget their birth names, but I still remember that I was named Amelia Leslie Kathleen Bradley. My codename, on the other hand, was a name that I had picked out, since I had actually liked it. I had been known as Jade Angel since I had joined the guild.

Of course, we were similar to another guild called the 'Red Sun Guild', which was hqed in California, but we, hqed in New York City, were governed with a kinder, less firm hand…which kind of leads to what I'm about to tell you now. I have heard stories as to what had happened to one RSG assassin codenamed Black Phoenix: she had been sent back to the time of King Arthur and his Samaritan Knights and saved one of those knights, Tristan, who was, as I found out later, her ancestor. All of this I have heard from one of my numerous contacts named Lex Ambers, AKA Light Girl. I have heard about the legends of the Briton King, especially the relationships of Lancelot and Guinevere and Tristan and Isolde, and seen different versions of the legends…but the one that I really liked the most was the version with Clive Owen as Arthur, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot, and Keira Knightley as Guinevere. Anyway, back to what I had heard about Black Phoenix, once she had gotten back and was well enough to continue her work, she was able to kill the last leader, Kronos, and became the next leader of RSG.

For some reason that I cannot even begin to explain, my uncle and Kronos had some kind of grudge when Kronos was still alive. But, after hearing his death and the rising of a new leader, he loosened his tie a bit and allowed some members to retire if they wanted to. Eventually, we went from close to 5,000 members to about 2,500. I was glad for those that left, since they were reassured of a good life, consisting of an easy-pay job, housing, and pocket money to last them for five lifetimes. I stayed, surprisingly, since I had nowhere else to go…BbS had become my family and my home. I would never leave my uncle, who had become like a father to me and a mentor for the past eight years, and it would be very difficult to adjust to living a normal life.

So, it was about a week ago that I began to hear rumors about a rogue assassin guild that was on the loose and wanted to be the number one underground guild that only the wealthiest would hire…and by that, I mean wipe out any guild that stood in its way. Of course, this left my uncle unnerved and whatnot…yet he remained his cool throughout the week.

"'Ah, there's just to scare all of us,'" my uncle had said last night. "'Rumors can destroy a person's reputation…but, sometimes, it's good to suspect that something's not right.'"

True to his word, that evening would prove to be the last day of my independent state of mind and the beginning of caring about others for the first time…


	2. BbS HQ: NYC

**Disclaimer:** (A/N: see chapter 1 for the proper disclaimer...)

**Normal POV**

Amy Bradley, age 20 years, was sitting in one of the numerous meeting rooms in the 'Blackbird Society' HQ located in lower Manhattan, NYC. With short, layered chestnut brown hair, hazel brown eyes, sun kissed olive tan skin, and a physique of a track star runner, she stood at 5'3", which was about average height for a person that was considered as a mutt in blood heritage: she was a quarter Italian, Irish, German, and Chinese. Amy was swift on her feet, very witty, and all of her traits were flawless…which probably the reason why she never cared for anyone other than her fellow assassins and her uncle/boss, LeMarc Bradley, age 45 years. She was a virgin in terms of making life itself, but when it comes to stealing, hacking, killing, and whatever an assassin would try to do, she wasn't that innocent. All the more reason she stayed when her uncle issued the right to leave the guild at any time: she wasn't ready to face the real world without going through life they way she already knew.

After what seemed like hours for the woman, an older male version of Amy entered the room. He was about 5'7", had grey strands in his lighter brown hair, and had grey specks in his blue-green eyes. He was, however, a bit paler and a bit stockier in the middle.

"Ah, I thought you would be here, Amelia," LeMarc Bradley said to his niece as he smiled warmly to her.

"Where else would I be, Uncle?" she asked neutrally.

"True, my girl…very true, indeed. Anyway, Black Phoenix has been meaning to talk to us ever since she became the new leader of RSG. Perhaps, we should talk to her later this evening."

"Fine by me…I just wonder what she has to talk about…" Amy said as she ran her hand through her short hair.

"Relax, my niece…I'm sure that it's nothing but a small chat with the Queen of RSG…"

'Sure…like I'll believe that when pigs start to fly, LeMarc…' Amy thought as she sighed to herself.

"Anyway, what say lunch at Ming's? I'm sure he's got something new for us to try out for him…" LeMarc said as he walked through the door in which he entered moments ago.

_I really don't think that I'm up for Chinese…maybe something Italian or some burgers and fries…_ Amy said telepathically to her uncle.

(Well, I'll come back in five minutes…have to take care of something before we head out…) Amy heard her uncle reply in her mind.

Amy smiled slightly as she got up from her chair and looked down from the glass window. There, she saw Central Park from a distance and the city life below her. Sighing yet again, she walked from the window and sat back down in her chair once again.


	3. Amy's POV II

**Disclaimer:** (A/N: Like in the last chapter, please refer to Chapter 1 for the proper disclaimer.)

**Amy's POV**

And sure enough, I was in my uncle's flashy condo talking to the greatest assassin in California later that night. My uncle did most of the talking with the woman, as I just sat there and listened. The two leaders spoke in the native language of assassins: short, sweet and to the point. It turns out that she also heard the rumors and started to have her assassins to check in every so often. She also does the same for her contacts as well.

I knew I wasn't paying attention because my uncle elbowed me on my upper arm.

(She just asked you if you were still here, Amelia.) My uncle's thought came into my mind.

"I'm sorry, your grace…I wasn't in a clear state of mind for the moment," I said to the person on the other end of the phone.

I'm pretty sure you tend to know things a lot better if you were listening. I understand if that's the case, Jade Angel/ Black Phoenix replied over the phone.

"Thank you, your grace."

Now, another thing to note: whenever you speak to a leader of another guild, you address the person as 'your grace'. Makes them feel like they're actually from royalty or something.

I have not heard you speak at all this evening, Jade. Tell me about yourself a bit. /

"Err…I've been 20 for five months now and—"

That would be around the time of the 'incident' five years ago…/

"So, it was true…the story of how you traveled back into the times of King Arthur and his brave Samaritan Knights…"

(Amelia…) my uncle's warning came into my mind, but I kept going.

"What was it like back then? Were the stories of Tristan and Isolde and Lancelot and Guinevere true? Did Morgan Le Fay have a child with—?"

"Jade Angel…please, let's not get Your Grace a—" my uncle said with his temper starting to form.

It's all right, LeMarc…I'm sure your niece is into Medieval History as much as someone that I've known for a while now…To answer your questions, Jade, the stories were NOT true…and Morgana did not have a love affair with her half brother./

"I thought so…I mean, when I saw the version with Clive Owen as Arthur, I thought that it was more like what I really thought of King Arthur."

I'm not sure if you knew Alexandra Ambers…/

"Lex Ambers? **She** told you that I was knowledgeable in the Middle Ages?"

So, you do know her. She was one of the victims that were at the location of the 'incident'…/

"I last heard that she was in the hospital for an event that got her really injured. She didn't get out of the hospital until about a month later…"

That was five years ago…nowadays, she's in Salem, Massachusetts, for her sister's dance recital. /

"Yes, her sister's a ballet/hip-hop major in Boston University."

Perhaps, with your uncle's permission, you can come over to learn some things from me…if that's all right with your uncle, of course. /

At that point, I was thrilled to finally come face-to-face with Black Phoenix after hearing about her adventures in the past five years ago. I wanted to hear, firsthand, what it was like to meet Artorius Castus and his seven brave Knights of the Round Table. My uncle, however, had to approve of my leaving…as usual. He was always the one that had to give the approval to anything that dealt with me. But, he would give a fair judgment of the matter.

"Your bodyguard going to pick her up from the airstrip?" My uncle asked after a long pause of silence.

He's busy with the club, so I'll pick her up myself. /

Sure enough, that was the very excuse that my uncle needed to let me go. About an hour later, I was back in my apartment about five blocks from Chinatown, near the courthouses and Police Plaza itself. Sure, I've had friends in the FBI, the NYPD, and within the AOCTF, or the Asian Organized Crime Task Force, which would be a segment of detectives that investigate into crimes that are committed by Asian gangs. The only reason I know about half of what I want to know is because I knew a couple of cops and detectives that knew my dad very well. They were the ones that recommended me the apartment in the first place.

Anyway, I was to pack for a few days and I was going to stay with Black Phoenix during my stay in San Jose. So, I packed my things into a small duffel bag that I got from my high school and grabbed for my black Dell laptop, my white 30GB iPod with color and video, my black and white Sidekick II and my angel bike helmet as I left my apartment to head down to the garage for my black and silver Kawasaki that was parked by the stairwell door.

About fifteen minutes later, I was zigzagging back and forth through traffic to get towards LaGuardia Airport. Finally, I was met with my uncle and one of his bodyguards, who was to take my bike and watch it for me while I was gone. As the bodyguard left the parking lot to head back into traffic, my uncle and I went inside the airport.


	4. LaGuardia Airport: Queens, NY

**Disclaimer**: (A/N: see chapter 1 for the proper disclaimer. BTW, thanks to June Birdie, my Beta Reader and first reviewer, for the review. AND, this is a short chappie.)

**Normal POV**

"Now, Amelia, as soon as you get there, give me a call on my cell, all right? It's bad enough that none of the others have remembered to check in every so often during their mission…" LeMarc said as the two made their way to the private plane gates off to the eastern side of the airport.

"Yes, Uncle Marc…"

"I mean it, Am. It's going to get real bad over in San Jose, if the rumors are true enough. BP will need you when it gets pretty bad…"

"She was once a Class A assassin, LeMarc…she can take care of herself…I'm just there to give her support should it get out of hand."

Silence engulfed them as they waited for one of LeMarc's friends to get ready for the trip. After five minutes, the pilot was ready; LeMarc turned to face his niece for the last time for the moment.

"This is it, Amelia…please, come back in one piece…" the older man said as silent tears fell down his cheeks.

"I'll be back before you know it, Uncle Marc…and I will call you everyday, so that I don't have you have a heart attack while I'm gone…and don't hurt yourself while you're at it too," Amy said as she smiled back at her uncle, who had been her guardian for eight years.

The two relatives hugged each other, trying to etch the other person into their minds. Finally, Amy was walking towards the small jet and boarded it, without looking back. If she had turned to look at her uncle once again, she would have saw her uncle motion the pilot goodbye as he left the airport alone to head back into whatever danger lied ahead of him.


	5. Amy's POV III

**Disclaimer**: (A/N: see Chapter 1 for the proper disclaimer.)

**Amy's POV**

Upon my arrival onto the Californian soil, I was immediately greeted by a young man, who looked like he was about 19, maybe 20 years old to me. He was wearing what seemed like an expensive suit, but I couldn't tell which brand it was at all. He had sandy blondish brown hair that was spiked up with gel and his eye color was unknown, due to his black sunglasses which, once again, I couldn't tell what the brand was. He was slightly lean and stood about 5'7", maybe 5'8". His skin tone, on the other hand, was paler than the cream dress that a bride might wear on her wedding day.

It seemed like he didn't want to pick me up at all. I nodded my head in greeting, and he returned the gesture. We headed down to retrieve my duffel bag and afterwards headed to where there was a black stretch limousine waiting for me. One of the two bodyguards that were there opened the door for me and I nodded my thanks as I got into the limo. Inside the limo was a woman about 23 years of age waiting for me with light wavy chestnut brown hair and dark brown eyes that were hidden behind a pair of Gucci sunglasses.

"I assume that you are Jade Angel," the woman said to me.

"And I assume you are Black Phoenix," I replied back.

One thing that an assassin does when meeting someone from another guild is to assume that they are who you are to meet. For me, it's pretty much a routine that I usually follow when doing protocols.

"So, I trust that your flight was a pleasant one, am I correct?" the woman asked as the limo started to head off to the highway.

"Yes…no stops, but I'm used to it…" I replied as she took off the sunglasses and I got a good look at the woman whom I've come to admire my entire underworld career within the past five years.

"That's good. I was pretty sure that your uncle would have sent you on the fastest jet out from LaGuardia Airport to here in less than fourteen hours."

"Trust me, I've gotten to places far quicker than this one. This is nothing, compared to the job at Singapore, where I had to travel to five different places all in a day."

"Really? That's quite impressive…"

"Yeah…I wish that I rode my bike…may have been longer, but I'm a quick driver…"

"Well, I have plenty of motorcycles at one of the garages that I know of and they might have something suitable for your going back and forth through town and whatnot."

"I know that this is going off topic, but what is the main reason that you have me here? I know that I'm just here to learn a few new tricks…but, there's something else in this as well…"

The woman in front of me pinched the bridge of her nose with her manicured forefinger and thumb. She sighed while she did this before speaking again.

"You uncle didn't tell you, did he? It had to do with what happened five years ago…Lex said something about her not being a part of the 'incident'…" the woman said as her voice began to become faint in my ears.

Then, out of nowhere, memories of that fateful day came back to me. My hand reached up to touch a now invisible lump on the back of my head. So, what Lex said was true…but it applied to me: **_I_ **was the one supposed to be there…I am Morgana's direct descendant! I looked at my hands and saw the faint aura of light blue light that was my own.

_…What was she like?_ I asked telepathically as tears began to form in my eyes.

Black Phoenix was surprised at the moment of my 'hidden' talent, but recovered before she answered my question.

"She was quiet…but deadly. Appearance-wise, she looked almost like you. She was swift and accurate whenever she fought…when I talked to you on the phone, I was reassured that your voice and hers sounded the same. This I had told your uncle a couple of days before the appointed meeting over the phone about a possibility of you being related to Morgana. He, in return, told me of your hidden talent…"

"I see. Well, I was just wondering as to how much further it is to your place?"

"It's just around the block."

It seemed as if she was annoyed about something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had a funny way as to figuring out as to what a person feels at any given time. Right now, it seemed that she had something bothering her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…I'm just not thinking clearly for the moment," BP said.

"If it would help, Your Grace—"

"Please, call me Roxie."

"I'm Amy," I said as I reached out my right hand to her, which she gave a firm shook with it.

Another note to mind: whenever two assassins are working together on a certain job, they can reveal either their alias name or a common nickname. In this case, BP used the same name that Lex knew her by, and I used my nickname.

"So…how did you get in LeMarc's care?" Roxie asked.

"He's my uncle…he took me in after my parents and younger brother died in a car accident. I was the only survivor from the accident on my end…the drunk driver that hit us ended up with three months of community service and his license was suspended for five months. After that, I took it into my own hands as I planned his death with ease. He deserved to die. If I had to redo what happened, I would do it again and again…until the pain was drained from my very soul.

"After I killed the person responsible for my family's death, I knew that I wasn't turning back from the world of killing, stealing and hacking. Back then, the little girl I was died with her family…and Jade Angel was born."

Usually, it would take me about ten drinks to fully admit the true reason why I joined the guild in the first place. But, with Black Phoenix, it didn't take that much time to admit that to her. Something about her made me feel…'comfortable' talking about it.

"Sorry…" I muttered as I looked at the floor of the car.

"We all have skeletons in our closet, Amy. I, for one, have plenty…but let's not talk about it…we're here," Roxie said as the limousine stopped in front of a Ritz hotel.

We stepped out of the limo and walked through the front doors. I was amazed that the hotel reminded me of home instantly. Of course, I took only a moment or two to take a good look around. After that, we boarded an elevator and took it to the tenth floor. It was only a ten second walk to Roxie's door. As we got to the door, Roxie turned around to face me.

"Listen carefully now, young one. I need you to not freak out or do anything that might cause you to faint easily," Roxie warned me with a stern voice.

"Look, I can take care of myself…if I faint, well I guess it's my fault for not following your orders," I said as I told myself that whatever was lying on the other side of the door wasn't going to make me faint or whatnot.

Roxie rolled her eyes as she fished for her keys. When she found them, she used them and turned the handle. Once the door was unlocked, I knew that my own promise was going to be broken as soon as I entered the room.


	6. Roxie's Apartment I: San Jose, CA

**Disclaimer**: (A/N: see Chapter 1 for the proper disclaimer.)

**Normal POV**

Amy and Roxie both entered the room. Amy was surprised as to how neat and fancy the room was. It was like it was truly like any furnished room in a mansion or an estate. Amy went over to the fireplace and reveled in its marble finish.

"It must have cost you a fortune to get all of this…" Amy said as she turned to see that Roxie was looking out the window. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yes, Amy, I'm okay. Come, I'll show you to your room," Roxie replied as she showed the younger girl to her room. "Anything that you might need is all here…"

"Thanks…"

"Don't mention it."

Amy then sensed something that seemed out of the ordinary. She narrowed her eyes as she began her search in the room. Almost instantly, she heard something coming from the joint bathroom. She walked over to the door as she unholstered her .45 mm Desert Eagle from the holster inside her leather jacket. She slowly approached the door and cocked the hammer back. As she telepathically opened the door, she got herself prepared for the worse. Once the door opened, she aimed the gun…at an utterly confused Galahad, who had only a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Umm, sorry…" Amy said as she closed the door with a flushed look on her face.

Roxie couldn't help but smirk as she tried to not laugh at what had just happened. Amy, on the other hand, managed to put the hammer down on her Desert Eagle before reholstering her gun.

"There's—there's—there's—" Amy said as she tried to not pass out from the shock.

Galahad poked his head from the joint bathroom; his face was plastered with concern.

"Is the lady all right, Roxie?" he asked.

Then, out of nowhere, Lancelot, Tristan, and Gwain poked their heads from the bathroom as well. The other three were fully clothed and had the same look of concern on their faces as well. All of this overwhelmed Amy that she started to feel faint.

"There's—there's—" Amy said as she walked a couple of steps before she blacked out.

Tristan and Galahad both ran out of the bathroom to catch Amy. Lancelot and Gwain fell to the floor; it seemed that the two of them were trying to help as well, but collided with each other.

"I gave her fair warning…I'm surprised that she actually fainted…" Roxie said as she noticed something fell out of Amy's jacket.

She went over to it and picked it up. What she found was a small locket that had a skull on the front of it. The flap was opened and inside revealed two pictures: one had three people together on the inside part of the flap and the other side of the locket had a picture of Amy and a guy that looked like…Gwain, except that this guy had brown hair with blond tips.

'Wonder if this is her brother…who knows…?' Roxie thought as she pocketed the locket in her jean pocket.


	7. Galahad's POV

**DISCLAIMER:** (A/N: see chapter 1 for proper disclaimer)

**Galahad's POV**

I had just gotten out of the shower and was about to change into whatever clothes Roxie had gotten for us when I saw a younger-looking woman holding what seemed like something that Roxie had told all of us as another weapon in the future: a gun. I saw her eyes widen slowly and her face flush red in embarrassment. She closed the door, leaving me completely confused. Right away, I poked my head out of the joint bathroom, asking if the girl was all right, and saw that she wasn't looking all too well. Behind me came Tristan, Gawain and Lancelot, who were listening in from the other room. Somehow, Tristan saw the whole thing from where he was located, even though he looked like he hadn't seen all of it.

What we had not anticipated was the newcomer to faint. Tristan and I caught the girl as Lancelot and Gawain fell to the floor, trying to get out and help us as well. Tristan asked Lancelot to get a rag with cold water for the fainted woman. I glanced at the woman and noticed that she looked like the Woad sorceress, Morgana. The only difference I saw with this woman was that she had shorter, uneven hair length and highlights of a beautiful red color in her hair and she had a tattoo of a black crescent moon and four-pointed star on her inner right forearm.

I turn my head to see Tristan's face all pale. Of course, this had me a bit startled to see Tristan's face show any emotion, let alone turn pale.

"You all right, Tris?" I asked with a concerned look on my face, nonetheless.

"Just peachy…" was all Tristan replied as Lancelot returned with a cold, wet rag.

Tristan took the rag and placed it on the woman's forehead. Soon, she was regained consciousness.


	8. Amy's POV IV

**DISCLAIMER: **(A/N: see chapter 1 for proper disclaimer.)

**Amy's POV**

As I came to, I noticed that I was in someone's arms…well, I was in two people's arms. When I opened my eyes, I was looking in Tristan's entrancing dark eyes. I also saw that there was Gawain, Lancelot and Galahad, who was still wearing a towel around his waist. I must have had a nervous twitch, because I had accidentally kicked Gawain, who hit Lancelot in the arm. Lancelot shouldered Galahad, who pushed Tristan into me. Then, out of nowhere, I had a vision that had been in my dreams for about a month after my parents died…

**_Morgana was limping up the steps to the surface with her rescuer by her side. She held onto the dagger that she had stolen from her rescuer in what was left of her sleeve. As she looked up to the sky, she noticed that it was snowing. She looked to see Guinevere's rescuer asking for water. She then took a look at the knights that were standing around and saw…_**

_**'Kyle?' Morgana asked.**_

_**She then realized that she wasn't Morgana…but Amy Bradley!**_

_**The scene changes and Morgana is seen to be in the same room as Amy and the four knights.**_

**Hello Amy.**

_**Amy is then seen awake and walking over to the Woad sorceress. She stopped in front of the sorceress.**_

_Who are you?_

**I am Morgana…your ancestor. I've been waiting for you.**

_Why?_

**There are great things in line for you, Amelia Bradley. You are the very last in my line of descendants.**

_I know that…but, why are you saying that there are great things ahead of me? Is there something about to happen?_

**Yes. Let me show you…**

**_Amy then sees glimpses of things about to happen: she sees herself talking to Tristan. She then sees herself laughing with the knights and Roxie. Finally, she sees a bloodied dagger in a chamber with fire and chaos in the background._**

**These are things that are about to happen, Amelia. They will not be clear to understand until moments before they happen. Amelia, you must, with the aid of Roxie, protect the knights and my half brother from getting killed in your time.**

_Is this what you've told Roxie before she came back to the present?_

**No. I told her when she saw Lancelot, Guinevere, and Tristan a couple of nights ago. Arthur, however, should be there along with Dagonet. Where they all are right now, I do not know. I will assume that they are there as well.**

_But, why ask me? I'm sure that Roxie could do it alone._

**Because your love with one of the knights will be the downfall to someone in the future. It has happened already, that I can be sure of. But, the question is: can you be sure of it?**

_I don't know what you mean by that…_

**I'll rephrase the question for you: can you be sure that you will be able to save all of these knights without making one of them die?**

_…I guess I can try…_

**There is no 'try', Amelia…but, there is 'hope'.**

_I really don't know…that's why I said I'll try. I know that I cannot say 'yes' because I'm bound to break my promise to you._

**I knew that you might say that. But, the visions' clarity will come in due time, child…in due time…**

Then, as Morgana's presence vanished, I immediately bolted to a sitting position. I heaved in air as I realized that I was in bed and it was morning. I looked at the clock that was on he night table and it read 8:45 a.m. I glanced at my Illuminator sports watch and it read 11:45 a.m. Boy, did I overslept. Usually, I was about to have lunch by now in New York. Sighing, I got out of bed, wondering as to how I ended up in the bed. I closed my eyes to see who was in the apartment at the moment. Immediately, I sensed someone in the joint bathroom: Gawain. He was finishing on putting hair gel on his now short hair. The next person I was able to sense was Lancelot, but he was still asleep in the bedroom on the other side of the joint bathroom.

Out in the living room were Galahad, Bors and Dagonet. They were all asleep on the couch, with the TV on low volume. Galahad had his head on Bors' shoulder while Dagonet held his head with one arm on the armrest. They were snoring lightly, minus Bors, who was the loudest.

'God, wonder how they put up with that?' I thought as I continued with my 'psychic' morning routine.

Arthur and Guinevere were not in the room, but they were out in Roxie's balcony, eating breakfast together. The Woad was telling Arthur about what she seen on her way back to the room last night. Arthur just listened to his wife's tale with a sincere smile. Roxie, however, was no way to be found. She was probably in one of the clubs that she owned…I guess, maintaining it for the time being. The only one that was missing was—

Right away, I found the silent knight up in the roof, watching the sun rising. He looked a bit upset and the light emitting from the morning star showed that easily on his face. Knowing what other people feel and think besides their aura colors are kind of a natural thing for me to pick up effortlessly. This alone was my gift…and curse.

I must have lingered long on Tristan because he coughed into the air and cocked his head to one side.

"You know, the Woad sorceress did the same thing once. I figured that her 'talent' was passed down," Tristan said into the morning sun.

_I'm surprised that you take my gift neutrally. Usually, anyone would freak out for a while before calming down…but, that would depend on the person's reaction, of course._ I telepathically said to the scout.

"Hmph, she said the same thing."

_She must have done or looked differently from me._

"Her inner arms were beautifully-designed with blue tattoos. You only have one black tattoo on your inner right arm."

_I've seen people's bodies covered with tattoos…and I mean, _WAY_ too many tattoos. Besides, I have three tattoos; you guys only saw only one of them._

"Three tattoos? Roxie must have not noticed when she got you in bed."

_I was wondering as to who put me in bed last night. Well, not that you look concerned, but 'she' visited me last night._

"Morgana? She visited you?"

_Yes…but, what she told me cannot be repeated. Well, not yet, at least._

I grabbed my leather jacket and walked over to the only window in the room. I opened it entirely and I climbed out to the emergency exit landing. From there, I climbed to the roof and found Tristan there with an unbuttoned black shirt and black jeans. He kept his hair length the same and had his braids in his hair. His eyes were closed now; the sun kissing his left cheek.

"You came up here to pray to your gods?" I asked, seeing his sword nearby.

"No…just to meditate and train up here," the scout knight replied as he opened his dark chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh…" I said as I walked to where he was and sat cross legged on the roof floor next to him, watching him from the corner of my eye.

I closed my eyes again after a while and began to sense his aura. He was somewhat a grayish-black, which would mean that he was lonely as well as upset. He didn't look too well, since he was more gray than black.

"You always concerned?" he asked out of nowhere.

I opened my eyes and stared at the brown eyes looking at my hazel brown ones.

"What makes you say that?"

"Your posture…gave away that concerned feeling easily."

I just looked at him with mere confusion. How was he able to know what I was feeling? But, then again, a scout's got to be able to know everything that surrounded him…even people's emotions too.

"Okay…so, I am concerned."

"Thought so…you aren't much different from her."

"You make it seem like I'm her but reincarnated. I'm not: I've very different from her. This is the twenty-first century. There's no way that she's even still alive."

"Don't talk about Morgana like that. She was very honest and cared for others' lives before hers," Tristan said as he stood up. "I bet you never cared for anyone other than yourself before…" he added threateningly as he got in my face.

"I have cared for others in my life. Now, get your face out of mine before I'll beat the crap out of you," I said with equal tone as I shoved him out of my personal space.

"I think not, child…" Tristan said coldly.

That drew the line to the point where my temper took over my reasoning. I used my 'gift' to move his sword away as I got to my feet and drew out my Sais from their holsters in my inner pockets of my jacket. The scout was able to get his sword before it was beyond his reach. Damn, is he good…no, not good: better than I first anticipated. Before he was able to get the upper hand, I had caused him to stand where he was.

"WITCH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?" Tristan shouted at me as I slowly walked around him.

"Do you yield?"

"WHAT! I will never—"

"Fine…" I said as I made my way over to the ladder leading down to the ladder to the emergency exit landing. "Just to let you know, I'm not as cold as you might think I am…" I added as I let the scout knight go from the minor paralyzing spell.


	9. Roxie's Apartment II: San Jose, CA

**DISCLAIMER: **(A/N: see chapter 1 for proper disclaimer.)

**Normal POV**

Tristan fell to the roof floor, gasping for air. He couldn't believe that the girl was able to do that. The last time he felt that kind of power was when Morgana had used her powers to heal Dagonet from his wounds and when she used her powers to keep Lancelot and himself from dying. That was about 3 years before she died from a fever…by then, she had given birth to a girl, Deirdre, married Arthur and Guinevere, Lancelot and one of the Woads that he fell in love with, and got married to Tristan herself.

'Morgana… why? Why have me suffer with your descendant…?' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and sighed angrily to himself.

Meanwhile, back down in the apartment, Lancelot was now awake and sitting up on the bed. He had his window opened and heard Tristan screaming at someone…most likely Roxie or Amy.

'Wondering what made him get angry…' he thought as he tossed the covers to one side and got out of bed.

Lancelot stretched out his arms and let out a big yawn. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and shuffled his way to the door. He opened it and found Galahad, Dagonet and Bors asleep on the couch, with the TV volume low. He took the remote from the end table and changed the channel to a music video. He crept back to the room and blasted the volume up before closing the door quickly. This caused Bors and Dagonet to jump up, crushing the youngest knight a bit.

"Gitofmit," Galahad said from in between the two big knights.

"What's that?" both knights asked.

Bors had to lift himself a bit as Galahad was hitting his back.

"Get off me," Galahad said more clearly as he struggled underneath the two knights.

"Oh. Sorry, lad; couldn't 'ear ya," Bors replied as he chuckled heartily.

"Couldn't hear me? I was yelling for you to get off my head, Bors…"

"Okay, you two…just relax, all right?" Dagonet asked sternly as he held up his hands.

"Oy, ye seen th' remote?" Bors asked out of nowhere as he realized that the TV remote was missing.

"Yeah…I wonder where it is…" Dagonet agreed as Galahad went over to the TV and lowered the volume down to a relatively good point.

Dagonet went over to the door leading to one bedroom while Bors went to another. Both nodded their heads as they opened the doors at the same time. Bors had to close the door quickly because Amy was yelling at him to close the door, causing the knight to blush. Dagonet, on the other hand, grabbed Lancelot by the scruff of his neck and dragged Lancelot out of the other bedroom.

Lancelot, unfortunately, was trying to sniffle his laughter, but wasn't too keen on getting into the joint bathroom in time, since Dagonet had opened the door to see him with the remote in his hand. Lancelot was now saying 'oww' and 'let go' at Dagonet as the big knight had gotten the cunning knight into the living room and smacked the back of Lancelot's head lightly.

"Don't do that again, you hear? People were trying to sleep in here in the first place," Dagonet said as he took the remote back from Lancelot.

Amy, by the time Lancelot muttered his 'sorry', came out of her bedroom in a black tee that read 'Legolas is my House Elf', a pair of cargo pants that were in desert cameo print, and a pair of black Converse sneakers. She was wearing a pair of eyeglasses that complimented her eyes slightly.

"Sorry 'bout barging in like t'at, lass. Just trying ta find th' remote for th' TV, t'at's all," Bors apologized, his face nearing flushing.

"It's ok, Bors. I bet that Vanora never caused you to blush like you did moments ago," Amy said with a genuine smile as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I see that you're wide awake, milady," Gawain said as he exited from Amy's room.

"I see that you're up as well, Sir Gawain…and, my name is not 'milady'. It's Amy…calling me 'milady' sounds a bit too formal for my taste, if you ask me…" Amy said as she looked at Gawain with a 'know-it-all' look on her face.

"Fine, Amy it is then," Gawain said as he kissed Amy's hand lightly.

"Okay, you also need to stop that…that's a bit too 'flirtatious'…" Amy added with a laugh as she pulled her hand away.

"All right then," Lancelot said with a smirk on his face as he tried to kiss Amy's hand, but got a shove backwards instead.

Bors and Dagonet had a laugh at that one. Arthur and Guinevere, who just came from outside, saw this and the couple laughed lightly at them.

"Well, it seems that she's in better shape," Guinevere said as she smiled.

"Oh, Lady Guinevere…I—I didn't know that you—you were even here," Amy apologized as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

"No need for formality, miss. All is well," Arthur said to Amy.

"Thank you, but due to my bringing up, I must decline and still address you two as I should be," Amy said, not taking her gaze up from the floor.

Without her husband to stop her, Guinevere walked over to Amy and lifted Amy's head with her chin.

"No need to address us like that, young one. I would prefer with much pleasure if you were to address my husband and I like equals. After all, we weren't of high status before we were married," the older woman said to Amy with a genuine smile on her face.

"I guess I will try to adjust to that then, Guinevere," Amy replied.

Tristan, all the while, made his way down to the apartment. As he walked to the doorway of Amy's room to the living room, he stopped to see the exchange between Lancelot and Amy. He smirked when Lancelot got smacked in the back of his head for his sly flirtiness. He was surprised to see some of Morgana's traits in this girl. He wondered what else she had from his former wife.

"Ah, there's our silent friend!" Galahad said when he saw Tristan at the doorway.

Everyone, including Amy, turned to see Tristan there. Amy smiled at the silent knight, confirming the knight that Amy also inherited that smile that would brighten anyone's smug days.

"So, where did you run off to, Tris?" Gawain asked. "Last I remembered, you never came for dinner last night…"

'So, he was up there since I passed out? That's something not like him in the first place,' Arthur thought as Tristan just shrugged his shoulders.

"Just needed to get some air in here…after all, it smelt like horses' arse in here last I remembered," Tristan said.

Amy just shook her head as everyone but Bors laughed.

"T'at ain't funny, Tris. Y' know t'at it never smelt like—" Bors said, coming threatening towards the silent knight.

"I think, Bors, he meant the cooking last night," Dagonet said.

"What was for dinner last night?" Amy asked.

"It was Philly Cheese steak with brown rice and chilly beans," a new voice said.

Everyone turned to see Roxie at the doorway from the hallway. Roxie was now sporting a black, short shaggy haircut with strikingly blue eyes and a pinstriped two-piece suit with black leather Stilettos. She was holding a suitcase, which might have about a thousand dollars, in the eyes of the unknown. But, for Amy's psychic mind, it was about a million.

"Good morning, Amy. Had a good night's rest?" Roxie asked Amy.

"Just peachy. Anyway, what's for breakfast?" Amy asked, noticing the pans that were hanging about on the counter.

"Eggs, ham…and some toast. Want some?" Gawain asked as he got himself over to the kitchen area.

"Sure…my eggs will be scrambled, please…and the toast, you can leave out," Amy said as she placed her glasses on her head.

"You wear contacts?" Roxie asked, a bit curious about Amy's choice in eyewear.

"Yeah…it's always in a different color; it's something that I have to do," Amy replied as she rubbed her eye a bit. "I'm thinking about going for lavender for the day: I've had people telling me that they like it when I'm wearing lavender or light grey…"

'So, she also changes her eye color…makes you wonder if her eye color is of a hazel brown color or not,' Tristan and Roxie both thought as Gawain started to get orders from everyone.


	10. Roxie's POV

**DISCLAIMER:** (A/N: See Chapter 1 for proper disclaimer.)

**Roxie's POV**

So she follows protocol. Very good, it took some of my newer recruits longer to remember that. While Gawain began making eggs, I fingered the locket in my pocket thoughtfully, as it turned out that the guy in her locket was her older brother, Kyle. He was about fifteen when he died in the car accident that also claimed Amy's parents. Poor Amy; she was only twelve when it happened and she was the only survivor.

Suddenly, I was drawn back to reality as Amy was now laughing at Gawain, who got eggs in his hair for some odd reason. Immediately, I burst out laughing, honestly it was funny to see Gawain picking egg out of his nicely done hair.

"Not funny, Amy…gods, I spent an hour getting this right," the knight whined as he made faces as he was messing up his hairstyle.

The other knights, including Tristan (surprisingly), laughed at the poor knight. After a moment or two, Amy took pity of the poor knight and offered to help make breakfast, relieving Gawain to go fix his hair. I then excused myself from the room to head into my room for a moment or two. Once there, I went over to the night table and opened one of the drawers. I pulled out a folder of Amy's personal files and opened it. Once the folder was opened, I searched for one of the papers that had newspaper clippings of Amy's accident.

I found it and read it, like I had when I first got the folder:

"'East Meadow, NY…Car accident claims three lives…only the girl and drunk driver of other car survives…drunk driver serves three months…funeral will be held on Tuesday…' "

'This brings back memories. Amy lost her parents and brother as I lost my own. At least, I've got a bit of her back-story—' I thought when a knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. I turned and it was Amy in the doorway.

"Umm...are you hungry for lunch? I got everyone else done for the time being, and you didn't say if you wanted anything…" Amy said, her face somewhat concerned.

"Nah, I'll wait for dinner. Say, how would you like to come to one of the bars with me later? I'll start on your lessons then," I said, remembering my reason for Amy being here.

"Sure, I'd like that. What's the dress code?"

"Club attire."

"Ok…well, if you need anything, just give one of us a shout," Amy said as she left me alone in the room.


	11. Amy's POV V

**DISCLAIMER:** (A/N: see chapter 1 for proper disclaimer.)

**Amy's POV**

After returning from Roxie's room, Gawain had returned from fixing his hair. It looked a bit rushed, but somewhat like it was before he got eggs in them. I shook my head to myself as I laughed mentally at the small incident just moments ago. I sat down on the stool in the kitchen's small island, watching the knights and Guinevere talking to one another of various things while my mind wandered elsewhere.

I didn't know what I was thinking at the moment, but it was so funny that I just cracked up laughing. Soon, everyone was looking at me, who was cracking up out of nowhere so much that I fell off the stool. I had Tristan right underneath me; he must have seen me on the edge of the stool and he caught me just in time.

"What was that for, lass?" Bors asked.

"I was thinking about—I was remembering what my older brother and I did when I was younger. We…we did this prank on this little old lady and she ended up hollowing like a banshee…" I said in between the laughter.

"What did you do to her?" Arthur asked.

"We—we put a fart machine in one of the cupboards in her dining room along with a fog machine in her basement. Boy, that was something…"

I had, I think, Galahad laughing at that point, he must have gotten what I was trying to say and he repeated the whole thing to everyone. Bors was cracking up along with Gawain. Dagonet was just shaking his head with Arthur. Lancelot, Tristan, and Guinevere just looked at me with rolled eyes.

"Oh, come on…I'm sure you guys did a practical joke on someone at least once in your life…" I said with a stern tone as I got myself under control.

Everyone just looked at one another before Lancelot spoke.

"What about the one that I did just this morning? I'm sure someone got a good laugh out of that one," the knight said.

"That was you?" Galahad asked as he made his way dangerously over to Lancelot.

Before the youngest knight had a chance, I grabbed the scruff of his neck and pulled him back a bit. He strained to see me with my hand on his neck.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"That's for whatever you might do and get yourself into more trouble than you can imagine…"

All the while, Tristan watched this. I wasn't sure what he might say due to that. I think he smiled, knowing that Morgana and I shared that 'sisterly' type of attitude for Galahad…well, at least, that's what I've heard about my ancestor from Tristan.

Then, out of nowhere, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Dagonet smiling.

"Good to know that there's someone that can watch this one before he went and got himself in loads of trouble," the big knight said to me.

I blushed at the comment: never before was I told of that when I acted like a sister to any of my fellow agents. I guess this was a first.


	12. Roxie's Apartment III: San Jose, CA

**DISCLAIMER:** (A/N: see chapter 1 for proper disclaimer. Thanks for all the lovely reviews you guys sent so far ((u no who u r, people.)).)**  
**

**Normal POV**

About fifteen minutes later, Tristan was back on the roof, contemplating on what Amy said about the knights doing a prank on anyone. Sure, he had done some cunning tricks on the knights, and they found out that it was him behind them. He sighed as he closed his eyes. In his hands was something that he had taken off earlier that morning: it was the necklace of Morgana's ring.

His mind wandered back to the time after the Battle of Baden Hill, when he and Morgana went north to build their lives. Their life, with their daughter Deidre, felt complete. In his mind's eye, he relived watching her perform wedding after wedding, excluding their wedding. He smiled at those memories as Amy got to the roof. Amy noticed that he almost had a goof look on his face; she never questioned what caused him to do that. She noticed that the sun cast a earthly glow on the scout's face: his hair, though to be of a darkish brown color, looked more lighter and vibrant in the sun's rays; his tanned skin defined every curve on his face; his braids standing out more to Amy's eyes.

She didn't know what Tristan was thinking about, so she quietly walked up to the silent scout. She was contemplating whether or not she should alert Tristan of her presence there. She decided not to tell him, but to allow Tristan time to realize that he wasn't alone. So, she walked over to the silent scout's side and sat next to him. She sat there, wondering what to do while she waited. She thought about singing, she thought about twiddling her thumbs…

"You can stop acting as though you aren't there; I figured that you were next to me for a few minutes now," Tristan said as he opened his eyes and turned to face Amy.

Amy was about to reply back when his dark chocolate eyes stared at her hazel-brown. Immediately all her thoughts were lost. She went from a cool-tempered assassin/thief/hacker to an obvious fan girl in a matter of breaths.

'He's so dre—wait a minute! Why am I degrading myself to an idiotic type of girl that always relied on daddy…that's just…argh! That's just not me…' she thought as she shook her head vigorously to remove the thoughts.

All the meanwhile, Tristan, having something planned for the young assassin, moved himself so that he was in front of Amy and bent down so that he was somewhat level with Amy's face. He moved his right hand towards Amy's face, stroking her jaw line gently with the back of his hand.

'Christ! What's he doing?' she thought as Tristan leaned in…but, he turned his head so that he could whisper in Amy's ear.

"Had you going at that, huh?" the scout asked as he backed away and headed for the ladder.


	13. Mixed POV: Roxie's Apartment

**DISCLAIMER: Sorry for the delay in terms of posting this chapter. But, for proper disclaimer, see chapter 1. Now, on with the story!**

**Tristan's POV**

Finally, I got that girl back for what happened earlier today. I knew that she succeeded on putting a paralyzing spell on me…I think that Morgana attempted to do it as well. I thought about this as I climbed down the ladder and into Amy's room again.

**Amy's POV**

Why that son of a whore! He did that on purpose! I got to my feet, ran over to where the ladder was and saw Tristan entering my room. I curse under my breath as I slid down the ladder and tumbled into my room. I land gracefully on the carpeted floor, as usual. With my psychic eye, I searched for his presence, but before my scan was complete…

My legs gave way and I landed on my face; the bridge of my nose breaking slightly as I landed hard on the carpet roughly. With an angry huff, I used my gift, and pulled the scout out from his hiding spot...under my bed, how mature of him. I got myself up, the blood starting to trickle down my chin.

"You better knock that shit off, Samaritan…" I said threateningly as I walked up to Tristan. "Because I'll just torture in so many ways that could hurt your pride for the next five years of a pathetic life likes yours."

Tristan then leaned forward like before until he was about an inch from my face.

"Think you can, _girl_? I'd like to see you try…" he taunted me as he leaned back.

"You're so gonna regret saying those words…" I growled dangerously, the heat of boiling anger pumped behind my eyes, as well as an unknown emotion I couldn't name.

"Oi! None of that around here, ok mate?" Gawain interrupted as he separated the two of us from beating each other senseless or whatever.

With a heavy THUD, Tristan fell to the floor, groaning about how his feet ached and whatnot. Geez, what a baby…

**Gawain's POV**

Minding my own business, as though I really did. I 'stumbled' on Amy and Tristan in some sort of spat.

Tristan's deceased wife, the Woad Sorceress Morgana, or Morgan Le Fay as I was told when we first came here, and Amy were similar in a very good way; their personalities were the same: they were both gentle and kind, had a strong understanding towards a few things and had a strong will, which would place them as 'outcasts' in society, yet they cope with it once in a while. **BUT**, between Amy and Tristan, they were similar that they were both mysterious and quiet. Amy, while being similar to the two, had something that ate at her soul quietly and as stealthily as a mosquito bite.

Anyway, back to the present problem, I rushed into the room and held Amy back from harming Tristan; she was very close to beating the shit out of the silent scout. I wouldn't blame her, but it seemed that the two had already exchanged punches, since Amy's nose looked like it was slightly broken and blood trickled down her chin.

"Oi! None of that around here, ok mate?" I said to the two as I held onto Amy with all my strength. "What is this, a lover's quarrel?" I teased.

That was right when I felt my left ear being tugged.

"OWWWWWWW!" I yelled out as I was being dragged out of the room by an unknown force.

**Tristan's POV**

Serves Gawain right to get into other people's affairs that doesn't concern him. And, what a wonderful way to ruin my argument with that selfish little—I have no name to call Amy right now, but she reminds me of an old woman arguing senselessly about a stupid little thing. But, it was pretty funny to see Gawain being dragged out of the room by Amy's psychic gift.

Speaking of which, why is Amy holding **_that_** in her hands? What's she planning to do with **IT**!

_**A/N: Cliffhanger! You have to figure out what Amy has in mind for the poor scout by guessing what she has in her hands. This is where you guys get to figure out what it is and get yourself a possible cameo in future chapters. IS it:**_

_**A) A make-up kit (You'll get to appear as an agent for RSG/BbS…tell me which one, though.)**_

_**B) A dress and high heels: you get to use your imagination as to what kind of dress and heels (You'll get to appear as a usual customer in the Knight Angels)**_

_**C) A pillow (You'll get to appear as the bartender in the Knight Angels)**_

_**D) A+B (You'll get to be a waitress for Paul's Diner)**_

_**E) All of the above (You'll appear as the hotel manager that the whole gang's at)**_

_**Either leave your answer in the review or PM me the answer and what you would like to be**_


	14. Normal POV: San Jose, CA

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter 1 for proper disclaimer. After a LONG absence, I have returned. Thanks to Lady Lily Rose (Hayley) for reviewing. Back to our programmed story!

**(Normal POV)**

Amy left the room, leaving a shocked Tristan, who was sitting on the carpeted floor, in the room all by himself.

_I dare you to try something and watch what happens…C'mon I DARE YOU_, she telepathically said to Tristan as she grabbed for her leather jacket, her iPod, and a pack of Marlboro Lights and climbed outside to the emergency exit landing outside of Roxie's bedroom.

She lit one of the cigarettes and took a puff from it. As she exhaled, she thought of what Morgana said to her in the dream.

((Flashback to the Dream))

_Amy sees herself talking to Tristan on the roof; the sun is starting to set in the West. She then sees herself laughing with the knights and Roxie on the roof; this time, it's twilight and there's music playing in the background. Finally, she sees a bloodied dagger in a chamber with fire and chaos in the background; she sees Roxie, Lancelot, Lex, and another knight along with two dead bodies on the floor. Lancelot was helping Lex out of her restraints while the other person was holding a dead Amy in their arms._

((End Flashback))

'Me talking to Tristan: ok, but not as sincerely as the dream…me laughing with the knights and Roxie: well, it's getting to that point…a bloodied dagger: that's a mystery all by itself. I mean, if this were supposed to come true, wouldn't there be some sort of order for these events…' Amy thought to herself as her feet dangled from the ledge.

Back at the other eight, Gawain was now rubbing his sore ear, while Lancelot, Bors and Galahad laughed at the poor knight; Dagonet, on the other hand, was just shaking his head to himself as he tried to help the poor knight of his slight injury. Gawain, having about had it with the teasing, proceeded to give Lancelot a black eye, but Bors and Galahad stopped him from doing so.

"Just count your blessings that you were saved," Gawain said to the womanizer knight as he sat in the kitchen, eating a banana.

Lancelot just laughed as he, Bors and Galahad, joined Gawain and talked to one another on their usual topics in any conversation: women, food, ale, and fighting. Guinevere and Arthur, on the other hand, were cuddling on the couch while watching 'The Wedding Crashers'. Roxie was in the bathroom, trying on different outfits for that evening.

** The Knight Angels: About 5 hours later… >**

Amy downed her eighth shot of Smirnoff Vodka while Tristan was nursing his second bottle of Corona Extra. The two, along with Roxie and Lancelot, were out at one of Roxie's clubs called 'The Knight Angels', named honor of those killed in the 9/11 incident.

**((Earlier that afternoon ))**

_Snapping her nose into place and wiping the blood on her shirt, Amy flicked her dead cigarette into the alley below. Tightening her leather jacket around her, Amy climbed back through the window finding Roxie and Lancelot entering the room. The couple were well-dressed to the T._

_"Oh…we were about to come get you…" Lancelot said._

_"Okay, let me get my wallet and the three of us will head out…" Amy said as she walked through the joint bathroom and into her room, going through her duffel bag to find her wallet._

_"Tristan's coming with us. I don't like the idea of you coming along without an escort," Roxie stated bluntly._

_'Great…it's bad enough to talk to the guy that never speaks more than he's asked to speak…it's even worse to be around him, especially after the stunt that I just pulled on him earlier. It's like she's having him baby-sit me; what am I, FIVE?' she thought to herself as she nodded her head._

**((Back at the present moment…))**

Tristan was too busy to notice that Amy had gone off with one of the usual customers of the bar to go dance on the dance floor. When he did, he fought the urge to stalk over and break the kid's neck for breathing the same air as Amy. Tristan did a double take-was he jealous? He, the silent scout, the one most feared and respected by all that knew his name and reputation? He shook his head. Maybe, for once, he might overlook this and not even notice it at all.

"Barkeep, another one," the scout grumbled as Hayley, the bartender, slid over another bottle of Corona.

Staring at the mirror that was in front of him, he watched the girl's every move. Yet, he yearned to be the guy that was dancing with Amy. With a groan, he took a long gulp from his beer before he pushed off from the bar to get Amy away from the guy.

"Mind if I cut in?" he growled when he approached.

"Sure…after I'm done with her," the kid replied back snottily as he continued to dance with Amy.

"I think you've had her LONG enough, boy," Tristan said, his temper starting to become short with this kid.

"Hey, here's an idea: why don't you go find some other gal, okay? I saw her first…and I intend to get it down with her tonight," the kid stated as he grabbed Amy around her waist and, in front of Tristan, kissed Amy.

Before the three of them could notice, the kid was on his back, groaning as he held his crotch area gently. Tristan saw Amy shake with disgust.

"I need another shot right about now," Amy bluntly exclaimed as she walked back to the bar and began to order another shot of vodka.

"Here, this might do the trick, sweetie," Hayley said as she gave Amy a shot of Captain Morgan's.

Amy downed it in one gulp. She coughed at the bitter taste, but it did help a bit. Tristan patted Amy's back gently as Amy fought for a bit of air.

"That was pretty good out there, kiddo…I didn't know that you had it in ya," the bartender said, drying off a glass from a previous customer.

Then, Amy saw two huge bouncers come over to the bar…straight for her with the kid that she kneed a moment ago.

"You the chick that kneed him one?" one of the bouncers asked Amy.

"Yeah, I'm the one that gave him a good reason not to try and get into other girls' pants…why you ask?" Amy asked as she played around the surface of the bar with her finger. "It's too bad he's got low esteem to even try to rob the cradle or to get all snug in his mom's insurance money," she added coldly.

"You son of a—" the kid said before he was pulled back by the other bouncer.

"Okay, I think it's time for you to go home now," the bouncer holding the kid said as he grabbed the kid by the scruff of his neck and walked away.

"You have no idea how many girls wanted to do that. Ain't I right, Tiny?" Hayley said with a smile to the first bouncer.

"Jerks, creeps, weirdoes…just another day at the office," the bouncer dubbed 'Tiny' said as he walked away.

Lancelot came down a moment later, joining the two at the bar.

"What can I get from here, doll face?" Lancelot asked with a coy smile.

"Well, it depends what you want, darlin'," Hayley replied.

"He'll have a Bud," Amy said as she eyed the two carefully.

"A Bud, it is then."

"Now, why did you order me a kiddie's drink, Ams? I thought we were friends," Lancelot whined as he hugged Amy's arm.

"Wanna have kids?" Amy asked as she grabbed Lancelot by his crotch.

"OW! Yes!" Lancelot winced, trying to get Amy to let go of them.

"Then, back off…I'm not in the mood to give your boo-boos a kiss…that's Roxie's job to do that," Amy stated bluntly as she let go, having Lancelot to tend to his injuries. "Where is she, anyhoo?" she asked, noticing that Roxie wasn't there to begin with.

"She'll be down from her office…had to make a phone call, that's all," Lancelot replied as Hayley returned with a Bud in her hand. "Thanks, luv."

"No problem. Listen, I have other customers: you three don't get into trouble around here…you never know what kind of trouble you can yourself into," Hayley warned the three as she left to take care of her other customers.

Roxie, meanwhile, was on the phone with LeMarc. She had called him mainly to tell him that everything was okay with his niece.

\Are you sure that my niece is all right?/ LeMarc asked on the phone for the tenth time.

"She's fine, LeMarc. She's doing very well here," Roxie said onto the comm speaker.

\Good. It turns out that this 'group' of rogue agents does exist. They claimed three of my agents' lives. I don't know how much longer before I'm next./

"I'm certain that you will be safer here. Just bring your staff and those that you consider as your finest, should there be any trouble. My base of command is always open to you."

\Thank you, Black Phoenix. I appreciate all that you've done for me and Jade Angel. Just tell her to be careful: it helps her know that I'm doing okay./

"I will. Take care," Roxie said as LeMarc hung up.

'Amy said that LeMarc's her uncle…yet her uncle refers her to her codename…must be nice to have an uncle that's the head of your guild…' Roxie mused for a bit before she headed out the door and into the bar area itself away from her office.

Back at the apartment, the others decided to watch horror movies while the four were out at the bar. Bors, Gawain, and Galahad wanted to go, but thankfully, both Arthur and Dagonet convinced the three to stay behind. Roxie reassured them by the promises of bringing beer and whatnot from the store tomorrow afternoon.

So, the six of them were now watching The Grudge with Sarah Michelle Geller in it. Just as the Asian Lady Ghoul appeared for the fifth time, the four were on their way back from the bar. Once the ghoul appeared again, Lancelot, Tristan, Roxie and Amy had just entered the apartment. Lancelot slammed the door behind him, just as the ghoul came onto the screen. Everyone else, but Tristan, Dagonet and Roxie, jumped at both the noise and the sight of the ghoul.

"Lancelot…" Tristan snapped at the other knight.

"What?" Lancelot asked, not knowing why the scout was snapping at him all of a sudden.

"Is everything ok?" Gawain and Galahad asked when they stopped the DVD.

"Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?" Lancelot asked; he was too confused in the first place.

"Then why is Amy's face a bit black and blue? Did she get into a fight or something of the likes?" Galahad asked, pointing to Amy's right cheek.

"What? How did you get that, Am?" Gawain asked as he went to go look at it, but Amy pulled away.

"I hit myself on the way out of the car before…why you ask?" Amy grunted as she went into her room and closed the door.

**A/N:** Another chapter posted! Will post more soon, I promise. R+R, please!


	15. Tristan's POV

**DISCLAIMER**: See Chapter One for proper disclaimers. On with the story! Once again, I thank June Birdie, my beta reader, for working so hard with me on my chapters.

**(Tristan's POV)**

I knew perfectly well that Amy didn't hit herself with the car. I just wonder what else this girl will do in order to get privacy. But, I wouldn't allow her to suffer on her on with her injuries at its worse. So, I went in about five minutes later, when Lancelot and Roxie joined the others at watching the movie. I went into the kitchen beforehand and grabbed some ice and a kitchen towel, along with some bandages, gauze pads and ointment for the minor cuts on her arms and knuckles.

Amy's little creep was waiting at the door when she went out for a cigarette. Thankfully, Tiny was around when the creep was about to knock Amy on the head with a pipe he had found before Amy came out. But before Tiny was able to step into the fight, Amy fought back and managed to knock him out first. Tiny had called for Roxie, who was waiting along with Lancelot and me at the bar. The three of us came out and Lancelot wanted to kill the kid. But, I, being the silent one, held my brother-in-arm back, silently praying to the gods for a swift and precise punishment for hurting Amy.

As I cracked the door, Amy had fallen sleep on the bed; praises to the gods that she had been careful with her cuts and her bruises. I crept quietly to the bed, making sure not to make any noises as I got to the bed. As I sat on the bed, I made sure that I didn't crush her with my weight. I placed the items I brought with me to my left as I contemplated with pulling Amy into my lap.

Finally, I had to lie down in order to get Amy within a reasonable way for me to get to her injuries without looking like a pervert…here goes nothing.

I must have pushed down on something, because I ended up falling off the bed, my head landing on her duffel bag. I rubbed my head with one hand while my other hand…what's this? I pull out a leather pouch. Before I opened it, I heard Amy muttered something. I strained my ears to hear what she was saying.

"Kyle? Don't forget about Dad's birthday party tomorrow night…it's at Parkingston's at 9 o'clock," she said with a sigh.

Who was this 'Kyle'? But, she _did_ mention a birthday party for her father at this 'Parkingston's' place. SO…this guy had to be either a loved one or one of her kin. Shaking my head for a moment, I opened the pouch to reveal pictures.

Roxie, when we first got to her apartment, showed us everything we needed to know about the future, including pictures. Anyway, I looked through the photos; underneath them were words that described each individual picture. On one of them, the words said, "Mom, Dad, Amy and Kyle: NYC '91." I looked at the picture more carefully: so this 'Kyle' was her brother. The boy seemed about eight or nine years old…and he looked just like Gawain when he was younger.

I flipped through the pouch, pausing to glance at each picture. It seemed that Amy kept these pictures in order to keep her focus on her assignments. Finally, I got to where I only saw Amy and an older man. "Amy and Uncle Marc: Uncle Marc's birthday, '00" the caption read. I flipped to where I found the last picture of Kyle and Amy together. Under that photo, it read, "Amy and Kyle: Amy's graduation from sixth grade, '98." I look up from the pouch to a sleeping Amy. If Amy was about 20 summers…then this was taken about eight years prior. Her family must have disowned her or she left them or…

"Che cosa state facendo con quello?" a whisper came from Amy's lips…yet it was in a language I couldn't understand.

Amy opened her eyes, red from being exhausted and bloodshot from her drinking…yet, she didn't look drunk.

"What are you doing with that, Tristan?" she repeated her question, this time in common tongue.

So, she had spoken in another language and realized that I wasn't able to understand what she was saying. I guess she heard me turning the pages on her photo pouch.

"Looking at this," I said as I held the photo pouch up a bit.

"Put it away," she said as she turned her head, forgetting that her right forearm was bruised for the moment.

I looked up with a confused look. She wanted me to put it away? Why, I wonder.

"And the reason to put this away would be…?"

"Too much agony…I really don't want to talk about it at all."

I continued to stare at Amy as I got back on the bed, finally able to patch her injuries up. As I did her arm, my mind wondered back to what she had said: she really didn't want to say much…then again, I was very curious about her family…and what happened to them.

"C'mon, lass…how bad it be to you?"

"…because the drunk driver that killed my family wasn't just anyone. He was the son of one of my uncle's enemies. This man owns a guild himself: he's the leader of the 'Black Dogs Guild'. His son wasn't even drunk to begin with…he was as sober as you and I…"

"Sober? I only drank four beers…you had 8 shots of 'vodka', a shot of this…this 'Captain Morgan's' drink, a beer…and a 'wine cooler'. I think you're drunk more than I am…" I stated, listing what she had.

"It would take me about 12 shots of vodka, five beers, and three wine coolers to get my sorry, freaking arse drunk as a mule. Besides, the 8 shots that I had? Half of it was Shirley Temples, just without the coloring. Hayley knows me pretty well: her twin is in my uncle's guild," Amy stated as she leaned up to a sitting position and turned to face me.

"You keep mentioning this 'guild' of your uncle's. I'd like to know more about it," I said as I shifted so that I was on my stomach, looking up at Amy.

With a sigh and her shifting so that she was on her back, she began to tell me of this guild, known as the 'Blackbird Society', which was named after a knight that I don't know, named Sir Edwin Blackbird.

**A/N**: Ah, we get to get a glimpse of Amy's past here. More to come shortly. Please R+R.


	16. Amy's POV VI

**DISCLAIMERS**: We all know the drill by now that Chapter One has the proper disclaimers. Once again, I thank my beta reader, June Birdie, for her dedication to helping me out here.

**A/N**: Wow, two chapters in one day! That's a new one for me. Anyway, on with the story.

**(Amy's POV) **

I opened my eyes to see that it's morning…and well after nine-thirty. Not bad for someone that drank as much as I did last night…and acquire as much bruises and cuts that I received after nearly punching the lights out of Joey…urgk, why do the jerks always flock to me? I seriously don't know. Speaking of attracting jerks…why was Tristan asleep…and I'm on top of him?

Then, I remembered what I said the night before. Crap, I shouldn't have said anything at all: he got me a bit annoyed at the fact that he went through the photo album that I carried around. But, what got me nearly pissed off was when he asked about my dead family. Gees, what's wrong with that scenario? Argh, whatever. But, he got me to tell him about my uncle's guild: I guess you could say that I boast about the guild more proudly than anything else that goes on in my pathetic excuse of a life.

At least he didn't look inside my locket…speaking of which, where did I put that stupid necklace anyway? I swore I had it with me when I left NY, but it wasn't in my jacket pocket yesterday…oh great, I must have dropped it somewhere. Oh, LeMarc will have my neck if he ever found out that I lost the locket he gave me for my sixteenth birthday.

I go to sit up, making sure that I wasn't going to wake the scout himself, since he was out cold…well, he didn't seem a heavy sleeper; more like a light sleeper, like me, but sleeps through a bomb raiding if he could. Thankfully, I wasn't as drunk as I would have liked, but remembering all of last night, I should have gotten drunk off my ass.

As I turned my head to glance at Tristan's sleeping body, I noticed a few things that I didn't catch at first: his tattoos on his cheeks were glowing slightly from the morning sun, his hair, braids and all, were lightly fanned out on the pillow, and his calloused hands grasped the sheets with a light, but firm, grip. For lack of a better word, I guessed that he was relaxed in his sleep. I must have slightly moved a bit too fast, because Tristan muttered, "Stop moving," in his sleep.

Managing to get his arm off of me, I lean on my side to look at this still sleeping scout. I brushed Tristan's hair from his face, taking in the tattoos more attentively. I then brushed my forefinger from his cheekbone to his jaw line, gliding my finger lightly across his skin. I then glided the back of my hand along his jaw line, awing at the softness of his skin and smiled once I reached his beard, which appeared coarse, but was really soft to the touch.

Then, his dark brown eyes met with my hazel-brown. He looked as though he didn't sleep at all.

"Like what you see, Amelia?" he asked in a soft, but musky, tone.

My God, he's even hotter at this moment. Perhaps, I should toy with him as well, seeing that he was trying to do the same with me. But, where did he found out my full first name? Who really knows, honestly.

"Mmm-hmm. You sleep well?" I asked him as I suppressed a yawn.

Tristan nodded his head.

"You curious about something, milady?"

"How did you know my full first name? I haven't told you at all last night."

"I thought you did."

"No, I didn't. Trust me, I would have remembered…and no, I'm not forgetful when I get drunk. I remember everything."

"I would figure that you do. Anyway, how are your bruises looking?"

Shit, I forgot about those…well, when you get beaten up a few times in your life, you seem to forget the pain when someone punches you or slaps you around. But, I got hit with a freaking pipe! Now, that would have hurt…if I actually thought about it, but I never did.

"Doesn't hurt at all, really. To tell you the truth, I forgot about that until now."

"Let me see them…"

I eyed him funny: he wanted to see them?

"I mean your hands," he said as he took them into his own.

He inspected my knuckles, which were bandaged pretty well, and saw that they stopped bleeding and needed to be redressed. He undid the wrapping and I saw, for the first time that morning, how bad they were. The skin was pulled back, exposing bone and muscle to the whole world if left unbandaged. But, other than that, it wasn't hideous.

"I'm surprised that you even fought back. Most women, in my time, would either get beaten to death or one of the passing people would stop them. Sometimes, us knights might see to it," Tristan said to me as he finished rewrapping fresh bandages to my hands.

"Here, it's either you die trying, or not fight back at all and let them see that you're weak. Besides, I've been in situations like that before. Never even occurred to me that I had to get dirty with what happened last night. I usually have my gun on me, but knowing security at bars, I left that and my Sais here. But, it's better with what you can make do at a time like last night than be helpless at all.

"Anyhoo, I think I might want to wash up first before we do anything big today," I said as I got up from the bed and took out clothes that I was going to need once I got out of my shower.

Once in the bathroom, I stripped myself of the clothes, feeling a bit lighter and freer as each article of clothing falls into a heap on the floor. I rubbed my right shoulder as I turned on the hot water on maximum. After that, I stepped into the shower, the water calming my nerves instantly. I sighed in pleasant content as I just stood under the hot water.

Then, out of nowhere, my keen hearing caught something at the door of the bathroom. I scanned the area with my third eye to find…oh, great: out of all the knights, Mr. 'Dark Curls and Coy Smiles' had to walk in. What a great way to enjoy my shower. I mean, I have no grudges against the guy: he had Roxie and all, but he is a womanizer! I mean, c'mon; why would any girl want to be bedded by the only knight that ever beds numerous women in his time. I sure that Roxie changed that once she came into his life. Silently thanking my lucky stars that he didn't check to see who was in the shower, he was at the sink, fixing his hair…oh, boy. I'm gunna puke because of that.

He was dressed in a nice shirt and faded blue jeans…but the shirt had to go: it was blue-and-yellow striped. Ew, who would wanna wear that with blue jeans????

I had to do something…something to get him out of the bathroom…but, how? Oh, that's right-I could do either the following: I could use my psychic powers to get him out of here, I could get his attention from the other room and lock the door—

"If you want me out of here, you should have asked," the knight said out of nowhere. "It's not like I'm gunna sneak a peek at you while you're in the shower."

What? How did he know about me being in the shower? Oh, right…the water. But, seriously, how did he know?

"The shirt doesn't look right with the pants. Change it to something more of a…of a…dark blue or white. You could even go for black or green. Anything but what you're wearing now," I said to him with an honest mind of fashion.

"Really? Because Gawain told me that—I'm going to kill him," Lancelot said as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

After mentally locking the door after Lancelot left, I then tried to reestablish the mood before Mr. 'Dark Curls' came and ruined it. Finally, peace and quiet…no more distract—

"Che cosa l'Inferno?!" I cursed out loud in Italian as the hot water suddenly turns into cold real fast.

I turned the shower off immediately, grabbed for a towel blindly, pulled back the curtain of the shower and stormed out of the bathroom. Tristan looked up from the photo album to see me really pissed off.

"I'm gunna kill the ones responsible for ruining my shower…" I mumbled under my breath as I got out to the living room.

Gawain, Galahad, Lancelot, Bors, Dagonet, Arthur, Guinevere, and Roxie were all watching T.V. when I came out of the guest room, water dripping onto the hardwood floor and me looking really red in the face with anger.

"WHO.TURNED.OFF.THE.HOT.WATER.FAUNCET?" I said through gritted teeth, having a general idea as to who did it.

"Whoa, an angry Amy…that's not good news," Galahad said as both Gawain and Lancelot, being the closest to me, backed off real fast.

"Well, if ya ask me, lass, it was those two o'er there," Bors said as he pointed over to the two cowering knights.

That's it…no more being Ms. Nice Assassin. I went back to grab a Sai and walked out with it in my hand. Sure enough, I had both Gawain and Lancelot running to hide behind both Roxie and Tristan, who now joined the others.

"Er, Amy? Don't you think that's a bit much?" Arthur asked as he and the others were just sitting there, watching the whole thing unfold.

"I think the gal's lost it, finally," Bors said, pointing it out.

"Why are you after me for, Amy? Gawain was the one that turned the faucet on when I went to try and strangle his neck," Mr. 'Dark Curls' said as he went to try and strangle Gawain.

"No way! Lancelot did it! Not me!" Gawain said as he went around Tristan, forgetting for a moment that I was there.

When Gawain realized what he did, he ran back the other way, but realized that he was going into Lancelot's way; so, he ran past me to hide behind Arthur and the others. Roxie, seeing that I was teasing the two knights, pushed Lancelot into my path. What he didn't anticipate me to do was tickle him on his side. I had, while the two knights fought with one another, placed my Sai on the coffee table, waiting for the right moment to tickle any of the two.

Lancelot was howling with laughter when I tickled him. I looked towards Roxie, who inched towards Lancelot's other side and proceeded to tickle his other side. With that out of the way, I stepped away to go and give Gawain a noogie to his head. His eyes widen as he ran to the joint bathroom and locked the door from my room. I sighed as I walked around and entered through Roxie's room.

"WhatchaGoingToDoWithMe?" he asked, wide-eyed with fear.

I gave him a raised eyebrow as I gathered my clothes.

"I was going to give you a noogie…but, I wanna get into some clothes, minding that I'm in only a bath towel," I replied as I left him in there to change in Roxie's walk-in closet.

Then, Roxie was in the room, with my cell phone ringing 'Trouble'…oh, great Lucifer, that was my uncle on the other end.

"Give me," I said as I was handed my cell and closed the door behind me. "Ciao?" I asked in Italian when I answered the phone.

\Amelia? Hi, it's Uncle Marc,/ my uncle said on the other end.

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

\Did you get into San Jose ok?/

"Yeah, I got in all right. Why, what's up?"

\Why didn't you call me before?/

Shit, I forgot my promise to him. Great, I'm now among his newer recruits that forget to call in when they get into their destinations safe and sound.

"I got busy. I would have called you earlier, but—"

\Don't worry about it. I already talked to BP about this last night. I hear that you're doing pretty well so far. Learn anything new or exciting?/

What is he thinking I am, five? Wow, some things never change…but, then again, I wasn't raised with my uncle a lot when I was younger.

"No, nothing of interest. Just the standards, that's all."

\You sure?/

"Yes, Uncle Marc."

\Good./

"So, how's Grand Ol' Manhattan doing without little ol' me?" I asked, knowing he hated it whenever I used my imitation of a Texan accent.

\Lonely…the recruits aren't as much of a talker, like you. But, you were right about one thing, Amelia./

"What's that, LeMarc?" I asked, a bit concerned what I was right about.

\The rumors. They're true, all right. Three agents are down./

"What? Who? How's that possible?" I asked, now really worried about the whole rogue group.

\Rodriguez, Gomez, and Lopez. How it's possible, I don't know. Look, you take care of yourself and Roxie all right?/

"Sure thing. I'll talk you later then. I love you," I said as I tried to get my bra out of my pants leg, but couldn't and I ended up hopping on one foot.

\I love you too. Goodbye./ My uncle said as he hung up.

"Bye…oh, shit!" I shouted as I fell to the floor, my cell phone bounced once before it landed near Roxie's red Stilettos.

Great, just what I needed…please God, if you're listening right now, don't let anyone come and—too late. Tristan and Lancelot opened the door, revealing me with the towel still around my chest, but with a pair of black boy shorts and my left leg in my pants, the other looking a bit bruised.

"BOYS!" Roxie said when she saw them staring at me.

I quickly got my bra unstuck from my pants leg, turned around and finished dressing. I risk a glance behind me and saw Tristan staring at my back.

"Is that one of the other tattoos?" he asked.

He must have seen my tribal band on my upper left arm. I smirked at him as I turned around.

"Yeah, this one I got while I was still in high school. My teachers weren't too happy when I got it, but they didn't complain, since it was covered the majority of my school career there. The one on my inner arm I got not too long ago. The third one was something that I alone understand the meaning of it," I said as I bragged about my tattoos.

"I see."

"Say, you didn't tell me about your tattoos," I said as I pointed them out.

"It's a tribal thing. I got them when I was about thirteen. I was recruited into the Roman service two years later," Tristan explained.

"Ok…now, we're even," I said as I walked out to get my black Converses that I left in my room. "Were you really worried about me?"

"Not really. I thought you were being jumped by Gawain…but, he was still in the bathroom when we came into the room. But, whoever called you…were they worried?" he asked right back.

"My uncle thought that I wasn't checking in with him, like his agents would do every now and then."

"What's in that bag of yours? I could swear that I have a nice lump from it last night," Tristan said as he lifted my duffel bag.

"Oh, you mean this? Just a few days' worth of clothes, my wallet (which is still in my leather jacket pocket), my laptop—" I started to list from the top of my head.

"Laptop?" he repeated, obviously curious about it.

"Well, it's a portable computer that I carry around when I'm not at home…I'm sure that Roxie explained that one to ya…I hope. Anyway, as I was saying, I also have my pack of Marlboro Lite cigarettes and Zippo (also in jacket pocket) along with my iPod (once again, in jacket pocket), and my photo album."

"All in one bag?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…I've gotten no complains so far," I replied.

I was sitting on the bed as I started up my laptop. Once the laptop was on, I had opened up my AOL program and went to check my email. I looked up after a while and saw Tristan staring at me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was looking at me for.

"What?" he asked.

"You're ogling…just like Mr. 'Dark Curls'," I said as I shook my head sadly.

"No, I'm—oh…" Tristan said as he realized what he did.

**(Amy's POV) **

I opened my eyes to see that it's morning…and well after nine-thirty. Not bad for someone that drank as much as I did last night…and acquire as much bruises and cuts that I received after nearly punching the lights out of Joey…urgk, why do the jerks always flock to me? I seriously don't know. Speaking of attracting jerks…why was Tristan asleep…and I'm on top of him?

Then, I remembered what I said the night before. Crap, I shouldn't have said anything at all: he got me a bit annoyed at the fact that he went through the photo album that I carried around. But, what got me nearly pissed off was when he asked about my dead family. Gees, what's wrong with that scenario? Argh, whatever. But, he got me to tell him about my uncle's guild: I guess you could say that I boast about the guild more proudly than anything else that goes on in my pathetic excuse of a life.

At least he didn't look inside my locket…speaking of which, where did I put that stupid necklace anyway? I swore I had it with me when I left NY, but it wasn't in my jacket pocket yesterday…oh great, I must have dropped it somewhere. Oh, LeMarc will have my neck if he ever found out that I lost the locket he gave me for my sixteenth birthday.

I go to sit up, making sure that I wasn't going to wake the scout himself, since he was out cold…well, he didn't seem a heavy sleeper; more like a light sleeper, like me, but sleeps through a bomb raiding if he could. Thankfully, I wasn't as drunk as I would have liked, but remembering all of last night, I should have gotten drunk off my ass.

As I turned my head to glance at Tristan's sleeping body, I noticed a few things that I didn't catch at first: his tattoos on his cheeks were glowing slightly from the morning sun, his hair, braids and all, were lightly fanned out on the pillow, and his calloused hands grasped the sheets with a light, but firm, grip. For lack of a better word, I guessed that he was relaxed in his sleep. I must have slightly moved a bit too fast, because Tristan muttered, "Stop moving," in his sleep.

Managing to get his arm off of me, I lean on my side to look at this still sleeping scout. I brushed Tristan's hair from his face, taking in the tattoos more attentively. I then brushed my forefinger from his cheekbone to his jaw line, gliding my finger lightly across his skin. I then glided the back of my hand along his jaw line, awing at the softness of his skin and smiled once I reached his beard, which appeared coarse, but was really soft to the touch.

Then, his dark brown eyes met with my hazel-brown. He looked as though he didn't sleep at all.

"Like what you see, Amelia?" he asked in a soft, but musky, tone.

My God, he's even hotter at this moment. Perhaps, I should toy with him as well, seeing that he was trying to do the same with me. But, where did he found out my full first name? Who really knows, honestly.

"Mmm-hmm. You sleep well?" I asked him as I suppressed a yawn.

Tristan nodded his head.

"You curious about something, milady?"

"How did you know my full first name? I haven't told you at all last night."

"I thought you did."

"No, I didn't. Trust me, I would have remembered…and no, I'm not forgetful when I get drunk. I remember everything."

"I would figure that you do. Anyway, how are your bruises looking?"

Shit, I forgot about those…well, when you get beaten up a few times in your life, you seem to forget the pain when someone punches you or slaps you around. But, I got hit with a freaking pipe! Now, that would have hurt…if I actually thought about it, but I never did.

"Doesn't hurt at all, really. To tell you the truth, I forgot about that until now."

"Let me see them…"

I eyed him funny: he wanted to see them?

"I mean your hands," he said as he took them into his own.

He inspected my knuckles, which were bandaged pretty well, and saw that they stopped bleeding and needed to be redressed. He undid the wrapping and I saw, for the first time that morning, how bad they were. The skin was pulled back, exposing bone and muscle to the whole world if left unbandaged. But, other than that, it wasn't hideous.

"I'm surprised that you even fought back. Most women, in my time, would either get beaten to death or one of the passing people would stop them. Sometimes, us knights might see to it," Tristan said to me as he finished rewrapping fresh bandages to my hands.

"Here, it's either you die trying, or not fight back at all and let them see that you're weak. Besides, I've been in situations like that before. Never even occurred to me that I had to get dirty with what happened last night. I usually have my gun on me, but knowing security at bars, I left that and my Sais here. But, it's better with what you can make do at a time like last night than be helpless at all.

"Anyhoo, I think I might want to wash up first before we do anything big today," I said as I got up from the bed and took out clothes that I was going to need once I got out of my shower.

Once in the bathroom, I stripped myself of the clothes, feeling a bit lighter and freer as each article of clothing falls into a heap on the floor. I rubbed my right shoulder as I turned on the hot water on maximum. After that, I stepped into the shower, the water calming my nerves instantly. I sighed in pleasant content as I just stood under the hot water.

Then, out of nowhere, my keen hearing caught something at the door of the bathroom. I scanned the area with my third eye to find…oh, great: out of all the knights, Mr. 'Dark Curls and Coy Smiles' had to walk in. What a great way to enjoy my shower. I mean, I have no grudges against the guy: he had Roxie and all, but he is a womanizer! I mean, c'mon; why would any girl want to be bedded by the only knight that ever beds numerous women in his time. I sure that Roxie changed that once she came into his life. Silently thanking my lucky stars that he didn't check to see who was in the shower, he was at the sink, fixing his hair…oh, boy. I'm gunna puke because of that.

He was dressed in a nice shirt and faded blue jeans…but the shirt had to go: it was blue-and-yellow striped. Ew, who would wanna wear that with blue jeans????

I had to do something…something to get him out of the bathroom…but, how? Oh, that's right-I could do either the following: I could use my psychic powers to get him out of here, I could get his attention from the other room and lock the door—

"If you want me out of here, you should have asked," the knight said out of nowhere. "It's not like I'm gunna sneak a peek at you while you're in the shower."

What? How did he know about me being in the shower? Oh, right…the water. But, seriously, how did he know?

"The shirt doesn't look right with the pants. Change it to something more of a…of a…dark blue or white. You could even go for black or green. Anything but what you're wearing now," I said to him with an honest mind of fashion.

"Really? Because Gawain told me that—I'm going to kill him," Lancelot said as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

After mentally locking the door after Lancelot left, I then tried to reestablish the mood before Mr. 'Dark Curls' came and ruined it. Finally, peace and quiet…no more distract—

"Che cosa l'Inferno?!" I cursed out loud in Italian as the hot water suddenly turns into cold real fast.

I turned the shower off immediately, grabbed for a towel blindly, pulled back the curtain of the shower and stormed out of the bathroom. Tristan looked up from the photo album to see me really pissed off.

"I'm gunna kill the ones responsible for ruining my shower…" I mumbled under my breath as I got out to the living room.

Gawain, Galahad, Lancelot, Bors, Dagonet, Arthur, Guinevere, and Roxie were all watching T.V. when I came out of the guest room, water dripping onto the hardwood floor and me looking really red in the face with anger.

"WHO.TURNED.OFF.THE.HOT.WATER.FAUNCET?" I said through gritted teeth, having a general idea as to who did it.

"Whoa, an angry Amy…that's not good news," Galahad said as both Gawain and Lancelot, being the closest to me, backed off real fast.

"Well, if ya ask me, lass, it was those two o'er there," Bors said as he pointed over to the two cowering knights.

That's it…no more being Ms. Nice Assassin. I went back to grab a Sai and walked out with it in my hand. Sure enough, I had both Gawain and Lancelot running to hide behind both Roxie and Tristan, who now joined the others.

"Er, Amy? Don't you think that's a bit much?" Arthur asked as he and the others were just sitting there, watching the whole thing unfold.

"I think the gal's lost it, finally," Bors said, pointing it out.

"Why are you after me for, Amy? Gawain was the one that turned the faucet on when I went to try and strangle his neck," Mr. 'Dark Curls' said as he went to try and strangle Gawain.

"No way! Lancelot did it! Not me!" Gawain said as he went around Tristan, forgetting for a moment that I was there.

When Gawain realized what he did, he ran back the other way, but realized that he was going into Lancelot's way; so, he ran past me to hide behind Arthur and the others. Roxie, seeing that I was teasing the two knights, pushed Lancelot into my path. What he didn't anticipate me to do was tickle him on his side. I had, while the two knights fought with one another, placed my Sai on the coffee table, waiting for the right moment to tickle any of the two.

Lancelot was howling with laughter when I tickled him. I looked towards Roxie, who inched towards Lancelot's other side and proceeded to tickle his other side. With that out of the way, I stepped away to go and give Gawain a noogie to his head. His eyes widen as he ran to the joint bathroom and locked the door from my room. I sighed as I walked around and entered through Roxie's room.

"WhatchaGoingToDoWithMe?" he asked, wide-eyed with fear.

I gave him a raised eyebrow as I gathered my clothes.

"I was going to give you a noogie…but, I wanna get into some clothes, minding that I'm in only a bath towel," I replied as I left him in there to change in Roxie's walk-in closet.

Then, Roxie was in the room, with my cell phone ringing 'Trouble'…oh, great Lucifer, that was my uncle on the other end.

"Give me," I said as I was handed my cell and closed the door behind me. "Ciao?" I asked in Italian when I answered the phone.

\Amelia? Hi, it's Uncle Marc,/ my uncle said on the other end.

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

\Did you get into San Jose ok?/

"Yeah, I got in all right. Why, what's up?"

\Why didn't you call me before?/

Shit, I forgot my promise to him. Great, I'm now among his newer recruits that forget to call in when they get into their destinations safe and sound.

"I got busy. I would have called you earlier, but—"

\Don't worry about it. I already talked to BP about this last night. I hear that you're doing pretty well so far. Learn anything new or exciting?/

What is he thinking I am, five? Wow, some things never change…but, then again, I wasn't raised with my uncle a lot when I was younger.

"No, nothing of interest. Just the standards, that's all."

\You sure?/

"Yes, Uncle Marc."

\Good./

"So, how's Grand Ol' Manhattan doing without little ol' me?" I asked, knowing he hated it whenever I used my imitation of a Texan accent.

\Lonely…the recruits aren't as much of a talker, like you. But, you were right about one thing, Amelia./

"What's that, LeMarc?" I asked, a bit concerned what I was right about.

\The rumors. They're true, all right. Three agents are down./

"What? Who? How's that possible?" I asked, now really worried about the whole rogue group.

\Rodriguez, Gomez, and Lopez. How it's possible, I don't know. Look, you take care of yourself and Roxie all right?/

"Sure thing. I'll talk you later then. I love you," I said as I tried to get my bra out of my pants leg, but couldn't and I ended up hopping on one foot.

\I love you too. Goodbye./ My uncle said as he hung up.

"Bye…oh, shit!" I shouted as I fell to the floor, my cell phone bounced once before it landed near Roxie's red Stilettos.

Great, just what I needed…please God, if you're listening right now, don't let anyone come and—too late. Tristan and Lancelot opened the door, revealing me with the towel still around my chest, but with a pair of black boy shorts and my left leg in my pants, the other looking a bit bruised.

"BOYS!" Roxie said when she saw them staring at me.

I quickly got my bra unstuck from my pants leg, turned around and finished dressing. I risk a glance behind me and saw Tristan staring at my back.

"Is that one of the other tattoos?" he asked.

He must have seen my tribal band on my upper left arm. I smirked at him as I turned around.

"Yeah, this one I got while I was still in high school. My teachers weren't too happy when I got it, but they didn't complain, since it was covered the majority of my school career there. The one on my inner arm I got not too long ago. The third one was something that I alone understand the meaning of it," I said as I bragged about my tattoos.

"I see."

"Say, you didn't tell me about your tattoos," I said as I pointed them out.

"It's a tribal thing. I got them when I was about thirteen. I was recruited into the Roman service two years later," Tristan explained.

"Ok…now, we're even," I said as I walked out to get my black Converses that I left in my room. "Were you really worried about me?"

"Not really. I thought you were being jumped by Gawain…but, he was still in the bathroom when we came into the room. But, whoever called you…were they worried?" he asked right back.

"My uncle thought that I wasn't checking in with him, like his agents would do every now and then."

"What's in that bag of yours? I could swear that I have a nice lump from it last night," Tristan said as he lifted my duffel bag.

"Oh, you mean this? Just a few days' worth of clothes, my wallet (which is still in my leather jacket pocket), my laptop—" I started to list from the top of my head.

"Laptop?" he repeated, obviously curious about it.

"Well, it's a portable computer that I carry around when I'm not at home…I'm sure that Roxie explained that one to ya…I hope. Anyway, as I was saying, I also have my pack of Marlboro Lite cigarettes and Zippo (also in jacket pocket) along with my iPod (once again, in jacket pocket), and my photo album."

"All in one bag?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…I've gotten no complains so far," I replied.

I was sitting on the bed as I started up my laptop. Once the laptop was on, I had opened up my AOL program and went to check my email. I looked up after a while and saw Tristan staring at me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was looking at me for.

"What?" he asked.

"You're ogling…just like Mr. 'Dark Curls'," I said as I shook my head sadly.

"No, I'm—oh…" Tristan said as he realized what he did.

**A/N**: Ok, what Amy said was in Italian for 'WHAT THE HELL?!' All right, please R+R when you get the chance.


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